The Trading Standards Joint Advisory Board was scheduled to discuss the proposed fees and charges for the 2026/27 financial year, as well as the service's work plan for the same period. The meeting also included a review of the previous meeting's minutes and a discussion on future meeting dates.

Fees and Charges Report 2026-27

The board was presented with a report detailing the proposed fees and charges for the Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service for the 2026/27 financial year. The report outlined that these fees and charges are set in accordance with the consortium agreement between the London Borough of Brent and the London Borough of Harrow, and are subject to consideration and recommendation by the Joint Advisory Board. The fees are categorised into statutory fees, RPI-linked fees, and discretionary fees.

Specific fee areas covered included:

• Explosive Licence Fees: Fees for processing explosive (firework) licenses, set by the Health and Safety Executive, with a renewal fee of £59 for a one-year licence and an additional £500 for an all-year-round licence.
• Letting and/or Property Management Penalty Fees: Monetary penalties of up to £5,000 for breaches of the Redress Schemes for Lettings Agency Work and Property Management Work (England) Order 2014 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015. For breaches of the Tenant's Fees Act 2019 and Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents (England) Regulations 2019, penalties can be up to £30,000. The report proposed penalties ranging from £1,000 to £5,000 for first offences, and £5,000 to £30,000 for subsequent offences.
• Primary Authority Fees: An hourly rate for primary authority partnerships, which are schemes enabling Trading Standards to charge businesses on a 'cost recovery' basis. The proposed hourly rates for 2026/27 were £81 for fixed contracts and £100 for pay-as-you-go services, reflecting a RPI escalator.
• Weights and Measures Fees: Fees for carrying out duties under the Weights and Measures Act 1985. The proposed fees for 2026/27 included £100.80 per hour for the verification of weights and measures equipment and calibration of weights for business, £84 per hour for testing for other local authorities, £53 per hour for additional officer testing assistance, and £108.60 per hour for the use of the safety lab.
• Registration of Premises for Auction Fee: A fee for the registration of premises to host an auction, proposed to increase from £414 to £430.
• Fee for Officers Carrying Out Duties at Wembley Events: A charge for officers conducting duties at Wembley events, with the current rate under review.
• Financial Investigator's Fee: An hourly fee of £53 for financial investigation services offered to other local authorities, in addition to a share of any subsequent incentivisation scheme payment.

The report also noted that the income budgets for fees and charges had historically ranged between £40,200 and £50,500, with a projected income of £42,500 for 2025/26, though actual income for 2025/26 had already exceeded £61,355 due to increased Wembley event schedules.

Work Plan Report 2026-27

The board was also provided with information concerning the proposed 2026/27 work plan for the Brent & Harrow Trading Standards Service. The work plan outlines the key proposed work-streams for the period of 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, aiming to protect consumers, support responsible businesses, and uphold a fair, safe, and competitive marketplace. The plan acts as a guide for monitoring performance and allows for flexibility to meet unexpected demands and emerging threats.

The priorities for the work plan are influenced by the National Trading Standards Board (NTSB) and London Trading Standards (LTS), with identified priority areas including doorstep crime, lettings, mass marketing fraud/scams, illicit vapes, used cars, illicit tobacco, intellectual property, estate agency, and animal feed. Cross-cutting themes such as e-crime, organised crime, and the cost-of-living crisis are also considered.

The work plan categorises areas of work into high, medium, and low priority. High priority areas include:

• Most Complained About Businesses
• Estate Agents/Letting Agents
• Doorstep Crime and Scams
• Counterfeit Goods (Large Scale Operation)
• Unsafe Goods (Manufacture /wholesale)
• Underage Sales
• Primary Authority Partnerships
• Energy related fraud investigations and enforcement
• Illicit Tobacco Products and nicotine inhaling products
• Second hand car dealers / used car sales

Medium priority areas include misleading descriptions, incorrectly labelled goods, consumer credit, online terms and conditions, and package travel holiday complaints. Low priority areas include single-use carrier bag charges, restrictive notices, and misleading descriptions of low-value goods.

The projected work volumes for the Brent and Harrow teams for 2026/27 were also detailed, based on staff numbers of 3.5 enforcement officers in Brent and 2.5 in Harrow. These volumes include planned completions for service requests, trader enquiries, inspections, test purchases, prosecutions, and various other enforcement and improvement activities.

Date of Future Meetings

Members were asked to note the provisional schedule of meetings agreed between Brent & Harrow for the 2026-27 Municipal Year. These included a meeting on Tuesday 30 June 2026 at 6pm, to be hosted online by the London Borough of Harrow, and a meeting on Tuesday 3 November 2026 at 6pm, to be hosted online by the London Borough of Brent. A further meeting was scheduled for Thursday 4 March 2027 at 6pm, to be hosted online by the London Borough of Harrow. These dates were subject to final confirmation by each respective borough.